Merneptah
Merenptah
Statue of Merenptah on display at the Egyptian Museum.
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign	1213-1203 BC, 19th Dynasty
Predecessor	Ramesses II
Successor	Seti II/Amenmesse
Royal titulary Prenomen: Baenre Merynetjeru The Soul of Ra, Beloved of the Gods Nomen: Merneptah Hotephermaat Beloved of Ptah, Joyous is Truth Horus name: Kanakht Haiemmaat Nebty name: Iribauertaentjemhu Golden Horus: Nebsenedjaashefit[1]
Consort(s)	Isetnofret II, Takhat
Children	Seti II, Merenptah, Khaemwaset, Isetnofret
Father	Ramesses II
Mother	Isetnofret
Died	1203 BC
Burial	KV8

Merneptah (or Merenptah) was the fourth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years between late July or early August 1213 and May 2, 1203 BC, according to contemporary historical records.^[2] He was the thirteenth son of Ramesses II^[3] and only came to power because all his older brothers, including his full brother Khaemwaset or Khaemwase, had predeceased him, by which time he was almost sixty years old. His throne name was Ba-en-re Mery-netjeru, which means "The Soul of Ra, Beloved of the Gods".

Merneptah probably was the fourth child of Isetnofret, the second wife of Ramesses II, and he was married to Queen Isetnofret, his royal wife, who was likely his full sister bearing the name of their mother. It is presumed that Merneptah also was married to Queen Takhat and one of their sons would become the later nineteenth dynasty pharaoh, Seti II. They also were the parents of prince Merenptah and possibly the usurper, Amenmesse, and Queen Twosret, wife of Seti II and later pharaoh in her own right.

Campaigns[link]

Merneptah had to carry out several military campaigns during his reign, in year 5 he fought against the Libyans, who—with the assistance of the Sea Peoples—were threatening Egypt from the West. Merneptah led a victorious six-hour battle against a combined Libyan and Sea People force at the city of Perire, probably located on the western edge of the Delta. His account of this campaign against the Sea Peoples and Libu is described in prose on a wall beside the sixth pylon at Karnak, which states:

"[Beginning of the victory that his majesty achieved in the land of Libya] -i, Ekwesh, Teresh, Lukka, Sherden, Shekelesh, Northerners coming from all lands."

Later in the inscription Merneptah receives news of the attack:

"... the third season, saying: 'The wretched, fallen chief of Libya, Meryre, son of Ded, has fallen upon the country of Tehenu with his bowmen--Sherden, Shekelesh, Ekwesh, Lukka, Teresh, Taking the best of every warrior and every man of war of his country. He has brought his wife and his children--leaders of the camp, and he has reached the western boundary in the fields of Perire.'"^[4]

In the Athribis Stele, in the garden of Cairo Museum, it states "His majesty was enraged at their report, like a lion", assembled his court and gave a rousing speech. Later he dreamed he saw Ptah handing him a sword and saying "Take thou (it) and banish thou the fearful heart from thee." When the bowmen went forth, says the inscription, "Amun was with them as a shield." After six hours the surviving Nine Bows threw down their weapons, abandoned their baggage and dependents, and ran for their lives. Merneptah states that he defeated the invasion, killing 6,000 soldiers and taking 9,000 prisoners. To be sure of the numbers, among other things, he took the penises of all uncircumcised enemy dead and the hands of all the circumcised, from which history learns that the Ekwesh were circumcised, a fact causing some to doubt they were Greek.

There is also an account of the same events in the form of a poem from the Merneptah Stele, widely known as the Israel Stele, which makes reference to the supposed utter destruction of Israel in a campaign prior to his 5th year in Canaan: "Israel has been wiped out...its seed is no more." This is the first recognised ancient Egyptian record of the existence of Israel--"not as a country or city, but as a tribe" or people.^[5]

Succession[link]

Merneptah makes an offering to Ptah on a column

Merneptah was already an elderly man in his late 60s if not early 70s when he assumed the throne.^[6] Merneptah moved the administrative center of Egypt from Piramesse (Pi-Ramesses), his father's capital, back to Memphis, where he constructed a royal palace next to the temple of Ptah. This palace was excavated in 1915 by the University of Pennsylvania Museum led by Clarence Fischer.

Naneferkaptah was the royal heir, being the son of Merneptah's royal wife, Queen Isetnofret (Isisnofret), but he, his wife, and their heir died before the death of Merneptah, and their story survives in text.^[7] Merneptah's successor, Seti II, was another son of Queen Isisnofret. However, Seti II's accession to the throne was not unchallenged: a rival king named Amenmesse, who was either another son of Merneptah by Takhat or, much less likely, of Ramesses II, seized control over Upper Egypt and Kush during the middle of Seti II's reign. Seti was able to reassert his authority over Thebes in his fifth year, only after he overcame Amenmesse. It is possible that before seizing Upper Egypt Amenmesse had been known as Messui and had been viceroy of Kush.

Mummy[link]

Stone sarcophagus of Merneptah in KV8.

Merneptah suffered from arthritis and arteriosclerosis in old age and died after a reign which lasted for nearly a decade. Merneptah was originally buried within tomb KV8 in the Valley of the Kings, but his mummy was not found there. In 1898 it was located along with eighteen other mummies in the mummy cache found in the tomb of Amenhotep II (KV35) by Victor Loret. Merneptah's mummy was taken to Cairo and eventually unwrapped by Dr. G. Elliott Smith on July 8, 1907. Dr Smith notes that:

The body is that of an old man and is 1 meter 714 millimeters in height. Merenptah was almost completely bald, only a narrow fringe of white hair (now cut so close as to be seen only with difficulty) remaining on the temples and occiput. A few short (about 2 mill) black hairs were found on the upper lip and scattered, closely clipped hairs on the cheeks and chin. The general aspect of the face recalls that of Ramesses II, but the form of the cranium and the measurements of the face much more nearly agree with those of his [grand]father, Seti the Great.^[8]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Eva March Tappan, ed., The World's Story: A History of the World in Story, Song and Art, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1914), Vol. III: Egypt, Africa, and Arabia, trans. W. K. Flinders Petrie, pp. 47–55, scanned by: J. S. Arkenberg, Department of History, California State Fullerton; Professor Arkenberg has modernized the text and it is available via Internet Ancient History Sourcebook

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Merneptah

It has been suggested that Bible and Spade be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2011.

Bryant G. Wood is a Young Earth creationist and biblical archaeologist and Research Director of the inerrantist Associates for Biblical Research.^[1] He is known for his 1990 proposed redating of the destruction of Jericho to accord with the biblical chronology of c. 1400 BC. The proposal was later (1995) contradicted by new radiocarbon evidence, and Kathleen Kenyon's dating of c. 1550 BC remains the date accepted in scholarly publications.

Biography[link]

Wood attended Syracuse University, graduating with a B.S. in mechanical engineering, later earning a M.S. in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY. He later pursued Biblical and archaeological studies and received an M.A. in Biblical History from the University of Michigan in 1974 and a Ph.D. in Syro-Palestinian archaeology from the University of Toronto in 1985. Wood is a specialist in Canaanite pottery of the Late Bronze Age. He is author of The Sociology of Pottery in Ancient Palestine: The Ceramic Industry and the Diffusion of Ceramic Style in the Bronze and Iron Ages (1990), as well as numerous articles on archaeological subjects. In addition, Wood serves as editor of the quarterly publication Bible and Spade.

Wood received international attention for his proposed redating of ancient Jericho, arguing for the historicity of the Biblical account of the capture of the city by the Israelites. He has also written on entry of the Philistines into Canaan and on historicity of the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Creation Ministries International refers to him as a creationist archaeologist.^[2]

Jericho[link]

According to the well-known story in the biblical book of Joshua, Jericho was the first Canaanite city to fall to the Israelites as they began their conquest of the Promised Land - an event which the Bible's internal chronology places at around 1406 BC. During a series of excavations from 1930 to 1936 John Garstang found a destruction layer at Jericho corresponding to the termination of City IV which he identified with the biblical story of Joshua and dated to c. 1400 BC.^[3] It was therefore a shock when Kathleen Kenyon in the 1950s, using more scientific methods than had been available to Garstang, redated Jericho City IV to 1550 BC and found no signs of any habitation at all for the period around 1400 BC. Wood's 1990 reversion of City IV to Garstang's original 1400 BC therefore caused a considerable stir. In 1999, based on on a reanalyis of pottery shards (a method which can provide highly accurate dates in the context of the ancient Near East), Wood argued that Jericho could have been captured in the Late Bronze Age by Joshua.^[4] Wood and Piotr Bienkowski debated this in the March/April 1990 issue of Biblical Archaeological Review, with Bienkowski writing:

Wood has attempted to redate the destruction of Jericho City IV from the end of the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1550 B.C.) to the end of the Late Bronze I (c. 1400 BC). He has put forward four lines of argument to support his conclusion. Not a single one of these arguments can stand up to scrutiny. On the contrary, there is strong evidence to confirm Kathleen Kenyon's dating of City IV to the Middle Bronze Age. Wood's attempt to equate the destruction of City IV with the Israelite conquest of Jericho must therefore be rejected.^[5]

Wood responded that he had produced evidence to back his argument, and that any counter-claims should also be backed by fresh evidence. In 1995 fresh evidence became available in the form of charred cereal grains from the City IV destruction layer. Radiocarbon dating of these grains showed that Jericho City IV was destroyed "during the late 17th or the 16th century BC", in line with Kenyon's findings, and that "the fortified Bronze Age city at Tell es-Sultan [Jericho] was not destroyed by ca.1400 BC, as Wood (1990) suggested".^[6] Wood argues^[7] that the discrepancy is part of the ongoing dispute between Egyptologists and radiocarbon experts that centers around the date of the Thera eruption, but Kenyon's dating remains accepted by the majority of mainstream archaeologists involved in Syro-Palestinian exploration.

Khirbet el-Maqatir[link]

Wood directs excavations at Kirbet el-Maqatir, a city which he contends may be the biblical city of Ai. The traditional location of Ai, et-Tell, was excavated most recently by Joseph Callaway and was found to have been abandoned during the entirety of the Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Ages. Khirbet el-Maqatir has produced pottery of the Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Late Bronze I, Iron Age I, late Hellenistic/early Roman, and Byzantine periods. Based on initial finds, including a small Late Bronze I fortress in areas A, D, E, and G, Wood's "preliminary conclusion is that the LB I fortress meets the Biblical requirements to be tentatively identified as the fortress 'Ai, referred to in Josh. 7-8."^[8] Nearby Khirbet Nisya has also been suggested, by excavator David Livingstone, as an alternative location for Ai.

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Manfred Bietak and Felix Höflmayer, "Introduction: High and Low Chronology," pp. 13–23 in The Synchronization of Civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millenium B.C. III, eds. Manfred Bietak and Ernst Czerny, Vienna: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschanften, 2007.
• Bruins & van der Plicht, "Tell es-Sultan (Jericho): Radiocarbon Results of Short-Lived Cereal and Multiyear Charcoal Samples from the End of the Middle Bronze Age," Radiocarbon 37:2, 1995.
• John Garstang, Joshua-Judges, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1978 reprint of 1931 edition.
• Bryant G. Wood, "Did the Israelites Conquer Jericho? A New Look at the Archaeological Evidence," Biblical Archaeology Review 16(2) (March/April 1990): 44-58.
• Bryant G. Wood, "Dating Jericho's Destruction: Bienkowski Is Wrong on All Counts, Biblical Archaeology Review 16:05, Sep/Oct 1990.]
• Bryant G. Wood,"The Walls of Jericho," Bible and Spade 12:2 (1999), also available here
• Bryant G. Wood, "The Philistines Enter Canaan," Biblical Archaeology Review 17:06, Nov/Dec 1991.
• Bryant G. Wood, "Khirbet el-Maqatir, 1995-1998," Israel Exploration Journal 50 no. 1-2 (2000), 123-30.

External links[link]

• The Bible vs. Modern Scholarship; Interview by John Elliott
• Wood's interpretation of the Jericho evidence
• Is Bryant Wood's chronology of Jericho valid? A critical examination
• Bryant Wood's own site

The Kings
The Kings performing at the George R. Robinson Bandshell in Gage Park, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Background information
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Rock, pop
Years active	1977–present
Website	thekingsarehere.com
Members
David Diamond Mister Zero Peter Nunn Sonny Keyes Peter Kadar Todd Reynolds
Past members
Gary Craig Greg Chritchley Josh Broadbent Marty Cordrey Max Styles Randall Coryell Rich Roxborough Whitey Glan Atilla Turi

The Kings are a Canadian rock band formed in 1977 in Vancouver. They are best known for their 1980 North American hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide".^[1]

Recording history[link]

The Kings were formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Oakville, Ontario in the late 1970s. The original lineup included David Diamond (bass, lead vocals), Sonny Keyes (keyboards, vocals), Max Styles (drums), and Mister Zero (guitar) with Mister Zero and David Diamond serving as the main songwriters with contributions from Sonny Keyes. The Kings were originally known as WhistleKing and rehearsed, performed club gigs, and wrote a considerable number of songs for more than three years.

In early 1980 the band went into Nimbus 9 Studio in Toronto to record their first album. While recording, renowned producer Bob Ezrin visited the studio, listened to the band, and liked what he heard.^[2] Together they created the album The Kings Are Here featuring the hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide". Two other singles followed and the band began touring extensively with Bob Seger, Jeff Beck, The Beach Boys and Eric Clapton. During 1980, their rising commercial fortunes culminated in an appearance on Dick Clark's American Bandstand, and the closing spot at the major Heatwave festival in August.^[1]

Amazon Beach, the 1981 follow-up to The Kings Are Here, produced little in the way of sales, and the band was soon dropped from their label Elektra Records. The Kings soldiered on and released the EP "R.S.V.P" and the live album Party Live '85 on their own Dizzy label, while continuing to tour Canada and the US throughout the remainder of the 1980s. Max Styles left the band in approximately 1982.

Comebacks[link]

The late 1980s were a difficult period for The Kings as they lost their drummer and their record label. As it were, the group was on the verge of a major revival as the single "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" became a huge radio hit in Chicago getting major play on all of the main rock stations: Classic rock WCKG, Alternative rock WXRT, and Mainstream Rock WLUP, as well as Top 40 powerhouse WLS-AM. The unavailability of the Kings records led Chicago DJ Bob Stroud of WLUP to record his own version of the single with his band Rockestra [1]. Elektra Records unfortunately remained unaware of the burgeoning hit and never reissued the single or album.

The single "Parting Of The Ways" appeared on Bullseye Records compilation Unsigned, Sealed and Delivered in 1991. This comeback prompted The Kings to return to the studio to record Unstoppable produced by John Punter, David Diamond and Mister Zero in 1993. Unstoppable produced several hits in Canada including "Lesson To Learn", "Shoulda Been Me", "Tonight I Got You", "Parting Of The Ways", and the title track "Unstoppable". A phone call in 1999 from Mister Zero to Alan Fletcher at Warner Canada led to the green light needed for Warner to re-issue The Kings Are Here..and More which allowed fans to get their hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide" on CD, which was fully remastered from the original 2 track tapes by Zero . ...and More also contained a few re-mixed tracks from Unstoppable and two previously unreleased tracks -"If The Stars Come Out Tonight" and "Right To The Top". A remixed and more mature version of "If The Stars Come Out Tonight" appeared on Because Of You released in 2003. Combined original sales and cd sales have passed the platinum mark in Canada but no certification is allowed because of the bonus tracks on the cd, which are the only way the band makes money from that project.

Throughout the remainder of the 1990s, The Kings continued to tour and play live shows around Toronto, but Sonny Keyes' role with The Kings diminished and only Mister Zero and David Diamond remain as permanent members from the original lineup. Sonny Keyes continued to contribute when called upon by Zero and Diamond.

Drummer Atilla Turi and keyboard players Peter Nunn and Rich Roxborough joined Mister Zero and David Diamond on the 2003 Bullseye Records release "Because Of You" (Josh Broadbent - Diamond's son - was also recruited into The Kings to contribute his vocals). "Because Of You" would be The Kings' strongest effort to date with Harry Hess recording alongside producers Zero and Diamond. A video was made for the title track, "It's Up To You" and "The Fools Are In Love" was re-mixed from the Amazon Beach release. Sonny Keyes co-wrote "A Way You'll Never Be" with Mister Zero.

A reunion of the original lineup of The Kings occurred in the winter of 2001 with Max Styles and Sonny Keyes joining their old mates for Alan Frew's (Glass Tiger) children benefit concert for Camp Trillium in Toronto. They played the benefit concert again in 2002.

In late 2005 The Kings had a full length reunion concert in Toronto which was filmed for inclusion in the DVD documentary being assembled by Mister Zero.^[1] The first part of this film to be seen is the incredible video for This Beat Goes On/Switchin' to Glide, released October 2006, which gets thousands of plays on YouTube.^[3]

Another focus for The Kings was to put as many songs as possible on iTunes, thus having the catalog available worldwide instantly. The album The Kings Anthology One is the latest addition, 12 songs from different eras including never before heard epic rockers from Whistleking.

In to 2008, The Kings continue to play live shows across southern Ontario and, from time to time, the northern United States. The Kings are also finishing new songs for their next studio album.

Lineups[link]

The Kings 1977 - 1982

1. David Diamond (vocals, bass)
2. Mister Zero (guitar)
3. Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
4. Max Styles (drums)

The Kings 1982 - 1999

1. David Diamond (vocals, bass)
2. Mister Zero (guitar)
3. Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
4. Peter Nunn (1994) (keyboards)
5. Marty Cordrey, Whitey Glan, Gary Craig, Randall Coryell, Greg Chritchley, Atilla Turi (drums)
6. Josh Broadbent (vocals)

The Kings 1999 - 2005

1. David Diamond (vocals, bass)
2. Mister Zero (guitar)
3. Atilla Turi (drums)
4. Peter Nunn (keyboards)
5. Rich Roxborough (keyboards)
6. Josh Broadbent (vocals)

The Kings 2005–present

1. David Diamond (vocals, bass)
2. Mister Zero (guitar)
3. Atilla Turi (drums)
4. Peter Nunn (keyboards)
5. Sonny Keyes (keyboards)
6. Peter Kadar (keyboards)
7. Josh Broadbent (vocals)
8. Todd Reynolds (Drums)

Discography[link]

• The Kings Are Here album (Elektra, 1980)
• Amazon Beach album (Elektra, 1981)
• R.S.V.P [4-Song EP] (Dizzy, 1982)
• Party Live '85 live album (Dizzy, 1985)
• Parting Of The Ways single (1991)
• Unstoppable CD (Dizzy, 1993)
• Unstoppable [W/This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide added] CD (Griffin, 1995)
• The Kings Are Here..and More CD (Warner, 2000)
• The Kings Are Here/Amazon Beach (2 on 1 CD, Wounded Bird, 2003)
• Because Of You CD (2003)
• Anthology One CD (2006)

See also[link]

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Kings Official website
• Bullseye Records
• The Kings: Anatomy of a One-Hit Wonder DVD review